William Morrison (Lynching of)

William Morrison was lynched by a mob of his neighbors in Eureka Springs (Carroll County) on July 24, 1887, after confessing to having abused his daughters.

A one-paragraph article appeared in many newspapers, though apparently none in Arkansas, in late July 1887 recounting the lynching of a man named William Morrison in Eureka Springs. According to the short articles, Morrison’s neighbors surrounded the city jail where he was held following his confession of “maltreating his two young daughters.” The mob apparently broke into the jail, seized Morrison, and “took him to a tree in his own yard, where he was stretched up in sight of his family.”

Morrison does not appear in the 1880 federal census for Carroll County, and none of the newspaper articles provide any additional information about him or his family, nor do they indicate whether anyone was ever held responsible for his murder.

For additional information:
“Additional Dispatches.” Fredonia (Kansas) Democrat, July 29, 1887, p. 1.

“Dots and Dashes.” Brainerd (Kansas) Ensign, July 28, 1887, p. 2.

“Hanged in His Own Yard.” Kansas City (Missouri) Times, July 26, 1887, p. 1.

“The Latest.” Burlingame, Kansas Osage County Chronicle, July 28, 1887, p. 2.

“Lynched by His Neighbors.” Dayton (Ohio) Herald, July 26, 1887, p. 1.

Mark K. Christ
Central Arkansas Library System